Wilman Edward S, Gardiner Sara H, Nomerotski Andrei, Turchetta Renato, Brouard Mark, Vallance Claire
Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
Rev Sci Instrum. 2012 Jan;83(1):013304. doi: 10.1063/1.3676164.
A new type of ion detector for mass spectrometry and general detection of low energy ions is presented. The detector consists of a scintillator optically coupled to a single-photon avalanche photodiode (SPAD) array. A prototype sensor has been constructed from a LYSO (Lu(1.8)Y(0.2)SiO(5)(Ce)) scintillator crystal coupled to a commercial SPAD array detector. As proof of concept, the detector is used to record the time-of-flight mass spectra of butanone and carbon disulphide, and the dependence of detection sensitivity on the ion kinetic energy is characterised.
